Man Accused of Abducting 13-Year-Old Met on Dating App Expresses Regret in Court

A video of him having sexual intercourse with the girl was found on his smartphone

“If I could hang out with a 13-year-old, I’d take the day off work.”

The 39-year-old man sent this message to A, a junior-high school girl (13 at the time of the incident) he met on a matching app, enticing her by inviting her to go for a drive.

“Yuki Suzuki, a 39-year-old medical office worker, sent messages to A such as ‘Let’s seriously hang out.’ On April 7, 2025, he is suspected of abducting her by driving her around Saitama Prefecture in a rental car. A’s father noticed something was wrong after checking her location information, and the incident came to light. A was then taken into protective custody by her father and others. On May 28, 2025, Saitama Prefectural Police arrested Suzuki on suspicion of abducting a minor. Suzuki admitted to the allegations, saying, ‘I like younger girls and wanted to have fun.’

Later, two video files showing him having sexual intercourse with another junior-high school girl, B (13 at the time), were found on Suzuki’s smartphone. Because of this, on July 16, Saitama Prefectural Police rearrested him on suspicion of non-consensual sexual intercourse and other offenses,” said a reporter from a national newspaper’s social news department.

On October 21, Suzuki’s first trial was held at the Saitama District Court, and it concluded on the same day. Suzuki is charged with four crimes: abducting minor A, and with regard to minor B—non-consensual sexual intercourse, filming sexual poses, and violating the Child Pornography Prohibition Act.

From the indictment and opening statement read aloud by the prosecutor, the following details of Suzuki’s despicable crimes became clear:

“The defendant, from around 2020 at the latest, used internet bulletin boards and matching apps to get in contact with an unspecified large number of women, including underage girls, and went on drives with them or had sexual intercourse and other acts with them.

In early April 2025, after meeting A through a matching app and knowing that she was 13 years old and a minor at the time, he thought about abducting her. He sent A a LINE message saying, ‘I also have a junior-high school girl who’s a sex friend, and it seems like doing things like spending money, going for drives, and that kind of stuff is fun, so A, let’s seriously hang out (lol),’ enticing her to come to him.

Then the next day, he had A get into the car he himself was driving, took her away without her guardian’s permission, placed her under his control, drove her around inside Saitama Prefecture from around 12:00 p.m. to around 4:00 p.m., and then dropped her off at the station she designated.

Also, in late April, although the defendant knew that B — whom he had met through a matching app and had been exchanging messages with — was a junior-high school student, he engaged in sexual acts with her inside a rental car parked in a multilevel parking structure in Chiba Prefecture. Furthermore, in late May, he summoned B again and engaged in similar acts inside another rental car parked in the multilevel parking structure, and he recorded and stored the footage on his smartphone.”

The guardians’ anger described in the written statements

In the indictment and the opening statement, the behavior of A’s parents—who noticed something was wrong with their daughter and immediately took action—was also described.

“A’s mother received a LINE message from A saying, ‘I’m going to hang out with a friend.’ However, when she checked the location information on A’s smartphone, she saw that A was moving along an unnatural route within Saitama Prefecture, and suspected that her daughter might be meeting an adult man and riding in his car.

So A’s father contacted the police. A’s father and mother tracked the smartphone’s location and began searching for A. Later, the father found A alone in a park.”

In the written statements of A’s and B’s guardians, which were read aloud by the prosecutor, both expressed strong feelings of wanting harsh punishment for defendant Suzuki.

“As a parent, I am furious that an adult male took a child who doesn’t know about society around. I cannot forgive the perpetrator.” (A’s mother)

“I cannot forgive the man who sexually objectified my middle school daughter. I am deeply shocked that she has become a victim of such abuse. Even if the perpetrator goes to prison, this anger and shock will not disappear.” (B’s mother)

Defendant Suzuki pled guilty, stating, “That’s correct.” During the defendant’s questioning on this day, he expressed remorse by answering his lawyer’s questions, saying, “I caused a very bad impact on the trust and future of a young girl who was not yet at an age where she could make proper judgments, and on her relationship with her family.”

When the prosecutor asked, “Didn’t you feel any resistance to having sex with a minor?” he replied, “At the time, I didn’t feel any resistance to having sex with a middle school student.” He then promised to seek treatment at a specialized hospital in the future.

Although the defendant expressed remorse and apologized

Next, the closing arguments were presented.

The prosecutor described the case as “a despicable crime that disregarded the victims’ dignity,” stating, “It is clear that the defendant’s sense of moral norms has dulled, and the risk of reoffending is high,” and requested six years in prison.

Meanwhile, the defense argued, “The defendant did not use violence or threats against any of the victims, and he used contraception when having intercourse with B,” and “The defendant’s mother has said she will live with him and supervise his daily life, meaning the conditions for rehabilitation are in place.” The defense concluded by asking for a lenient sentence.

Taking the stand for his final statement, defendant Suzuki burst into tears and, sobbing, said:

“First of all, I am truly sorry for what I did to A and B and their families, whom I dragged into this. From now on, I want to regain the trust of those around me. I will make sure that something like this never happens again.”

Suzuki entered the courtroom wearing gray sweats and with his long hair tied up like a topknot. During the trial, he sometimes covered his face with his hands or shed tears, perhaps out of regret for his crimes. However, on the other hand, he did not offer compensation to the victims, nor did he consider writing apology letters to them or their parents.

Given that he had met numerous minors over a period of more than five years through matching apps and other means, one wonders whether he truly failed to grasp that luring out a minor without parental consent could lead to criminal charges, until it escalated into the present situation.

The verdict is scheduled to be handed down on November 10.

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